Adjustable garment



March 11, 1952 J. w. THIELMAN ADJUSTABLE GARMENT Filed April 25. 1951INVENTOR. J5 (r/v w. 7/7154 MAM QM M Jae a TTO/EA/S x" Patented Mar. 11,1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

My invention relates to garments and is herein described as particularlysuitable for use in the making of garments for children at ages whenthey are growing rapidly, and is a continuationin-part of my applicationSerial No. 172,031, filed July 5, 1950.

One object of my invention is to provide a garment of the characterreferred to which can readily be altered to fit a growing child, both asto increased body measurement and increased height, these changes beingeffected mainly simply through the removal of temporary stitching andwithout the alterations being distinctly apparent.

Another object of my invention is to provide a garment of the characterreferred to, wherein the tuck or fold is concealed from view by a ruffleor the like, on the garment at a line below the temporary stitching thatinitially holds the tuck or fold and which will remain in such positionwhen the stitching has been removed and the tuck fold released tolengthen the garment, to

conceal the let-out material which usually will be of a different shadethan those areas of the cloth that were constantly exposed before thelengthenmg.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a face view of a dressembodying my invention; Figs. 2 and 3 are views taken on the lines IIIIand. III]1I respectively of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary rear view ofthe waist portion of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on theline V-V of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a view of the garment of Fig. 4, butwith the folded-back buttonhole and button-carrying portions of Fig. 4opened to expanded position when adjusted to a larger size.

The garment is here shown as having a waist portion 8 and a skirtportion 9 that has the usual hem l formed at its lower edge.

The waist or shirt portion is folded backwardly and upwardly and thendownwardly as shown in Fig. 2, to form a tuck H, the tuck being held inplace by temporary stitching at l2. The skirt 9 is sewed at l3 to thetuck l I. A rufile or trim member I 4 or the like is sewed at Ma to thewaist 8, below the temporary stitching [2. A ribbon insert I is shownincorporated in the rufile.

When it is desired to lengthen the garment, the stitching at l2 will beremoved, allowing the tuck to open and the skirt 9 to drop. The rufilel4- is of sufficient length to cover the extended material when thefolds of the tuck are released, so that the usually darker portions ofthe tuck resulting from its previous concealment will not show incontrast to the exposed face of the garment.

The garment can also be enlarged in the chest,

or bust, and also in the skirt width. To this end, the garment is openin its rear side, from top to bottom, if desired, and portions l1 and [8are folded back as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and stitched in place,buttonholes 20 being provided in the folded-back part I8 and buttons l9being sewed to the opposite edge of the waist, adjacent to the fold H.The button holes will be usable both before and after the removal of thestitching. When enlarging the garment, the stitching that holds thefolds fl and 18 in place as shown in Fig. 5, is removed to permitstraightening thereof to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 6, asindicated by the arrows. The buttons 19 will then be reset on thepreviously folded portion 11. Fastening devices other than buttons andbutton holes can be used, such as snap fasteners or hooks and eyes onthe lighter weight fabrics. These vertical folds need extend onlyslightly below the tuck at the waist line, and be initiallyincorporatedin the tuck.

In order to provide for lengthening the skirt 9 and hence to furtherlower the hem line H), the skirt is folded backwardly, upwardly andthence downwardly to form a tuck at 2|, the tuck being held in place bytemporary stitching 22 which is removed to permit straightening of thecloth at the tuck. A trim member such as a flounce or ruflie 23 is sewedat 24 to the lower portion of the tuck 2|. so as to prevent exposure ofunfadedor darker material at the tuck when the stitching 22 is removedto permit straightening of the tuck.

By folding the fabric backwardly, upwardly and thence downwardly asclearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, I secure a number of advantages thatwould not be present if the fold were made outwardly toward the face ofthe garment, upwardly, and then downwardly. Among these advantages are:

(a) The flounce strip can be sewed on to the face of the garment at theline of the first fold instead of at a line above the temporarystitching at l2 or 22, thus having only three thicknesses of material atthe tucked zone, when the dress is initially made, instead of havingfour thicknesses as would be the case if the flounce strip is sewed tothe dress along a line above the temporary stitching, and the strips ofFigs. 2 and 3 will hang more smoothly;

(b) The arrangement whereby there are only three thicknesses of materialinitially present at the tucked zone is further advantageous, in thatthere is less bulk at said zone when the dress is first worn, such bulkbeing particularly troublesome where heavier fabrics such as woolens andcorduroys are used, since in the skirt, the tucked zone would bulge outlike a hoop, and at the waist, it would be bulky appearing anduncomfortable to the child;

(c) The fiounce strip need not be so wide in order to cover thetuckedmaterial that is exposed to view when the tuck is let down, andthis may be an advantage where relatively narrow flounces are desiredinstead of much wider ones, and

(d) The down-turned fold at the rear of the garment when tucked as shownin the present drawing is not so subject to abrasion on theunder-garments as would be the case if the fold were made outwardly,upwardly and thence downwardly, because this second fold of the tuck isheld more closely to the main body of the fabric, by the temporarystitching, than would be the case if the cloth were folded in theopposite direction. This wear on the fold would tend to weaken thematerial, and in the case of thin fabrics such as organdy, would showthrough somewhat, and the fabric sometimes be worn practically through.

I claim as my invention:

1. A dress having a portion folded backwardly and upwardly and thencedownwardly, along horizontal lines, to form a tuck rearwardly of theexposed face of the dress, the last-named fold being stitched to thebody of the dress, to retain the tuck in place, whereby the lower edgeof the dress can be lowered simply through removal of this stitching, afiounce strip or the like attached at its upper edge to the exposed faceof the dress along a horizontal line at the firstnamed fold line, andwhereby scuffing is avoided at this line, the fiounce strip and the tuckfolds being of such relative vertical lengths that the fiounce stripwill conceal the tucked material from view when the said stitching isremoved to release the tuck.

2. A dress having a shirt portion and a skirt portion, the shirt portionbeing vertically divided and having its vertical edges folded back andtemporarily stitched along vertical lines, to permit of expansion at thechest of the wearer, when the stitching is removed, a horizontal tuckformed in the shirt portion adjacent to its line of juncture with theskirt and in the said folded-back parts, the tuck being formed byfolding the dress material adjacent to said line of juncture backwardly,upwardly, and thence downwardly, along horizontal lines, to form a tuckrearwardly of the exposed face of the dress, the last-named fold beingstitched to the shirt portion to retain the tuck in place, whereby thedress can be lengthened simply through removal of thi stitching, afiounce strip or the like attached at its upper edge to the exposed faceof the dress along a horizontal line at the first-named fold line, andwhereby scuffing is avoided at this line, the fiounce strip and the tuckfolds being of such relative vertical lengths that the fiounce stripwill conceal the tucked material from view when the said stitching isremoved to release the tuck.

JEAN W. THIELMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,021,711 Abrams Nov. 19, 19352,049,242 Bardley July 28, 1936 2,308,411 Wolfson Jan. 12, 19432,570,777 Dessauer Oct. 9, 1951

